HHS Purple Team wins fifth in state Academic Decathlon contest

The Haywood High Purple Team placed fifth in the state Academic Decathlon contest held the last week of March at Austin Peay State University in Clarksville. Team members won nine medals, one plaque, two scholarships, and one trophy. This marks the 22nd consecutive year that HHS has ranked among the top schools in this competition.

The following members won awards:

Jessica Ligon, silver medal in interview; Amy Olmedo, gold medal in essay writing; Angel Briseno, bronze medal in essay writing; Leah Taylor, gold medal in essay writing; and Hunter Burroughs, silver medal in math, silver medal in music, silver medal in economics, bronze medal in language and literature, bronze medal in essay writing, and a plaque for being the fifth highest over-all scorer in his division.

Chris Bradford and Angel Briseno each received a $1,000 scholarship to the colleges of their choice for being the highest senior scorers from Haywood High School. Other members of the Purple Team were Miguel Cobb, Iman McGhee, and William Nunn.
 

Varnado named National Defensive Player of the Year

Photo courtesy of Mississippi State University Athletic Department. www.mstateathletics.com Photo by Russ Houston

Former HHS Tomcat Jarvis Varnado has captured two of the most prestigious awards in college basketball – the SEC Defensive Player of the Year and the 2007-08 National Defensive Player of the Year. Varnado is the nation’s leading shot-blocker.

According to an article released April 4 by Mississippi State University, Haywood County’s Jarvis Varnado, a MSU sophomore and the nation’s leading collegiate shot-blocker, has been named the 2007-2008 CollegeInsider.com National Defensive Player of the Year. Earlier he had been selected by a vote of the league’s head coaches as this season’s SEC Defensive Player of the Year, and was named to the CollegeInsider Defensive All-America Team.

The son of HHS Basketball Coach Winston Varnado and Janice Varnado, Jarvis leads the nation with an average of 4.62 blocked shots per game, according to MSU statistics. “His 157 blocks on the season tied LSU’s Shaquille O’Neal’s all-time SEC season standard first established during the 1991-92 campaign. With the 157 blocks tying for 15th place on the NCAA’s all-time, single season chart, Varnado has individually blocked more shots than 305 NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams (out of 341 teams) during the 2007-08 season, according to research provided by STATS out of Chicago,” the MSU article said.

Varnado also averaged 7.9 points per game and ranked as the conference’s No. 6 rebounder at 7.8 boards per game on the year. Mississippi State stats also report that Varnado was credited with five or more blocks on 17 occasions this season, including 10-block outings against NCAA Tournament entries Kentucky, Georgia, and Miami, Florida. “In the Bulldogs’ 69-64 home victory over the Wildcats on January 15, he added 10 points and 12 rebounds to record the third triple-double in school history.”

Varnado has a two-year total of 224 career blocks in 69 MSU outings, ranks second on the MSU all-time list, and tops MSU’s all-time chart in career field-goal percentage (.643) after shooting 64.1 percent from the field this past season.

At Haywood High, 2006 graduate Varnado averaged 13 points, 12 rebounds and 7 blocks per game as a senior.

Haywood High School 2008 Tennis Schedule

HHS Biology Club performs school clean-up

The Haywood High School Biology Club held its Clean Up Day on Saturday,
March 15. Sponsor for the club, teacher Kavin Carr, said about 50 students participated in the event.

“Our goal is to eventually make this a community-wide event for educational as well as environmental purposes,” Carr said, adding that he had spoken with Haywood County Solid Waste Department Director Clinton Neal who agreed to provide trash bags and recycling bins. Karr also said that plans are for Mr. Neal talk with Franklin Smith about the county going “Green.”
 

Linda Baxter Teacher of the Year

Chemistry and Physics Teacher Linda Baxter was selected as the Haywood High School Teacher of the Year. She has taught school for 26 years, 18 of them at Haywood High. She holds a bachelor of science degree in education and a bachelor of science degree in natural resources management-wildlife biology, both from the University of Tennessee at Martin. She earned her master’s of education degree from the University of Memphis and has 45 hours above her master’s degree. Mrs. Baxter manages with students a Water Education Team at Haywood High, takes classes each year on a field trip to the Dauphin Island Sea Lab in Alabama, worked in the Great Outdoors University in 2007, and volunteered with a group of students in three school years to help the Nature Conservancy with projects at the Hatchie National Wildlife Refuge. She was also selected in 2006 as a Teacher Who Made a Difference from the Haywood County School Board based on a recommendation made by a former student.

“Annie Get Your Gun” another musical success

The Haywood High School Fine Arts Department presentation of “Annie Get Your Gun” was greeted with laughter and applause among students in other schools and by audiences Friday and Saturday nights, February 29 and March 1, at the Ann Marks Performing Arts Center. The musical comedy about Annie Oakley, Buffalo Bill Cody, Frank Butler and Chief Sitting Bull, among other famous early Western celebrities, features such great musical hits as “There’s No Business Like Show Business” and “Anything You Can Do.”

Starring in the 35-member cast were Brett Stoots as Frank Butler and Lindsey Yoder as Annie Oakley.

Click here for more play pictures

Tomcats are District 14-AA Champs, runners-up in region

The Haywood High School Basketball Tomcats completed regular season play with an overall record of 16-9 and a district record of 9-1, then won the District 14-AA title after defeating Ripley with a score of 85-54 and Covington with a score of 66-60. Brownsville was host to both the District and Regional tournaments.

The Tomcat’s first game in Region 7-AA play was against Milan, and the victory came with an impressive score of 98-65. But in the semi-final game on February 28, the Tomcats couldn’t bring home the win against the #1 state-ranked Dyer County Choctaws. The final score was 92-84, which gave Dyer County a record of 29-1.

Haywood County (18-11) traveled to Memphis Tuesday night, March 4, to take on Memphis Mitchell (18-8). Haywood and Mitchell met twice this season with each team getting a victory, but the Tomcats couldn't pull out one this time. They ended their season with a 71-63 loss to Mitchell and an overall season record of 18-12.

Tomcat Awards

Named to All-District were Ernest Ellison, Kenny Greer, Ricky Taylor, Darius Pickens, and Harrison Jones. Ricky Taylor was named Most Valuable Player, and Coach Winston Varnado was recognized as Coach of the Year. All-Region recognition went to Kenny Greer, Ricky Taylor, Harrison Jones, and Dreakus Cole.


 

Lady Cats end season after loss to Milan in regional play.

The Haywood High School basketball Lady Cats completed their regular season with an 8-14 overall record and 2-8 finish in District 14AA play. Since then, they have competed in District and Regional tournaments against University School of Jackson, Fayette-Ware of Somerville and Milan.

The Lady Cats took on USJ in the first round of District play and defeated them in overtime with a score of 60-55. In the second round, the Lady Cats fell to the Fayette-Ware team by a score of 52-44. Next they met Covington in the Consolation game and Covington came out on top 63-44. In the first round of Regional play, Haywood took on Milan and ended their season with a 77-48 loss.

Leading scorers for the Lady Cats in the USJ game were Kendra Jones, 22 points, and Shanavion Woodland, who had 17 points. In the Fayette-Ware game, Shanavion Woodland put 17 on the board, and Shaterica Tyus scored 9 points. Against Covington, Kendra Jones was the leading scorer with 12, and Shaterica Tyus added 8. The leading scorers for the Lady Cats in the game against Milan were Racquel Ingram with 15 points, followed by Kendra Jones, who had 10 points.

Haywood Coach Zandra Jones said at the beginning of the season that this would be a rebuilding year, and next year will see the loss of three seniors, with four juniors and eight sophomores returning. Reports are that a strong freshman class of players will give the team a boost, too.

Video professionals speak to HHS students

These members of Sunflower Circle Productions gave a presentation on Friday at College Hill to HHS video class students. The group was visiting Brownsville as part of their project to produce a documentary series on the life of Richard Halliburton, a native son who was an adventurer and the best-selling author of seven books in the 1920s and 1930s. Members of the group are (front, from left) Tim Bailey, Carolyn Treanor, David Halliburton; (back row) Kent Williams, Brian Purdy; and Catherine Busch-Johnston. They also plan to republish one of Halliburton’s books and produce a cartoon series about the adventurer.

After visiting the College Hill Museum and hearing a presentation from the Halliburton project team, HHS video students visited the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center to see the exhibits there on the Hatchie River, cotton and West Tennessee musicians.

HHS media concepts and video class students spent Friday, February 22, learning from seasoned professionals about the art of videography and the development of different types of packages made for television. The crew of Sunflower Circle Productions came to Brownsville to shoot some video of the house in which native son Richard Halliburton was born. Halliburton, whose family moved to Memphis when he was 6 years old, was a well-known adventurer and author during the 1920s and 1930s.

Members of the Sunflower Productions team are adventurer Tim Bailey; CEO-Sunflower Productions Carolyn Treanor; consultant David Halliburton; Kent Williams, animation and computer game technology; videographer Brian Purdy; and Catherine Busch-Johnston, director. The group is planning to produce a documentary film series project entitled “Chase the Horizon” about the life of Richard Halliburton. They will also republish “Richard Halliburton’s Complete Book of Marvels” and develop a cartoon series starring a Halliburton character and his pet monkey.

In charge of the project, Treanor says Halliburton’s “… Complete Book of Marvels” inspired the love of travel, geography and history. She also said that plans are, simultaneously with the first episode of the documentary series, the cartoon series, and the republishing of Halliburton’s book, to “introduce interactive internet educational software as well as game software that will further education in the areas of geography, history, and the cultural diversity of our world.”

The group’s presentation to the students included examples of their work in videography, animation, and in the development of different types of works they have done for television, including extreme sports videos, public service packages, travel videos, and marketing videos.

“It was a great learning experience for our students to see what these professionals have done in the fields of television and videography,” said Rita Hathcock, who teaches the classes along with Sheri Richards.

Class members also visited the Haywood County Museum at College Hill before lunch and the West Tennessee Delta Heritage Center in Brownsville after lunch to see the Hatchie River, cotton and music museums.
 

2008 Tomcat Varsity Baseball Schedule

2008 Haywood Men's Soccer Schedule

Coach: Steve Svebakken

HHS Haywood Softball Schedule

Head Coach: Chanda Franks
Assistant Coach: Matthew Shearon